Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation

The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) is one of the four Standing Committees which the OIC has formed to advance issues of critical importance to the Organization and its Member States. This ministerial committee was established pursuant to resolution 13/3-P (IS) adopted by the 3rd Islamic Summit Conference held in Makkah al Mukarammah and Taif in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in January 1981. COMCEC follows up the implementation of resolutions in the economic and trade fields, explores possible means of strengthening cooperation among the Member States, and prepares programmes and proposals capable of improving capacities in these areas. COMCEC is chaired by H.E. the President of the Republic of Turkey.

COMCEC has been convening annually at the Ministerial Level in Istanbul since 1984. During the annual sessions of the COMCEC, the delegations of the Member States and the OIC institutions consider and deliberate on a number of agenda items related to various issues of enhancing economic and commercial cooperation among the Member States. These issues ranged from enhancing intra-OIC trade and investment to cooperation among the key economic and policy institutions such as the stock exchanges, central banks, etc. Also, during the annual sessions of the COMCEC, the Ministers of Economy and Trade of the OIC Member Countries exchange their views and elaborate on specific issues with the aim of enhancing and strengthening economic and commercial cooperation among the Member Countries in the face of the global economic challenges. Prior to the annual sessions of the COMCEC, the Follow-up Committee of the COMCEC convenes with the participation of a number of the Member Countries, who are member in this Committee, together with the relevant OIC institutions.

Since 1984, SESRIC has been actively participating in the annual sessions of the COMCEC and its Follow-up Committee meetings through submitting and presenting various background reports and studies on various important agenda items of the COMCEC.

Thirtieth Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (COMCEC)

Date :

25-28 November 2014

Venue :

Istanbul Turkey

The 30th Session of the COMCEC convened in Istanbul on 25-28 November 2014 with the participation of delegates from the member countries. The session started in the first two days with the meeting of senior officials. During the Meeting, the delegations of the Member States and the OIC institutions considered and deliberated on a number of agenda items related to various issues of enhancing economic and commercial cooperation among the Member States. The issues include: Review of the implementation of the COMCEC Strategy and the OIC Ten-Year Program of Action and the Plan of Action; world economic developments with special reference to the OIC member countries; expansion of intra-OIC trade; enhancing the role of private sector in economic cooperation; improving transport and communications; developing a sustainable and competitive tourism sector; increasing productivity of agriculture sector and sustaining food security; eradicating poverty; deepening financial cooperation; exchange of views on “the role of public private partnerships for the development of the tourism sector in the OIC member states”.

Workshop on the Role of Public Private Partnerships for the Development of the Tourism Sector in OIC Member States

Date :

30 September - 01 October 2014

Venue :

Ankara Turkey

In accordance with the resolution of the 29th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the OIC (COMCEC), the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the COMCEC Coordination Office organized a workshop on 30 September – 01 October 2014 at the Headquarters of SESRIC in Ankara, Republic of Turkey as a preparatory event for the Ministerial Exchange of Views Session on the theme “The Role of Public Private Partnerships for the Development of the Tourism Sector in OIC Member States” during the 30th Session of the COMCEC, to be held in Istanbul on 25-28 November 2014.

The Fourth Meeting of the COMCEC Transport Working Group was held on September 12th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme “Developing Air Linkages to Sustain Tourism among the OIC Member States”. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 14 OIC Member States including Afghanistan, Benin, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, Niger, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Uganda. Representatives from the COMCEC Coordination Office, IDB (Islamic Development Bank), Turkish Airlines, Air Arabia, ATM Dalaman Airport and ICF International have also attended the Meeting. The Centre was represented thereat by Dr. Cem Tintin, Researcher and Mr. Omercan Kulaklıkaya, Researcher.

The Fourth Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on 04 September 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme “Enhancing the Capacity of Tourism Workforce in the OIC Member Countries for Improved Tourism Service Quality”.

The 30th Meeting of the Follow-up Committee of the COMCEC will be held on 7-8 May 2014 in Ankara, Turkey, with the participation of the member countries of the Committee (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, Kuwait, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Mali and Cameroon), representatives the OIC General Secretariat and the following subsidiary, affiliated and specialised organs (SESRIC, ICDT, IDB, ICCIA, IUT, OISA and SMIIC).

The 3rd Meeting of the COMCEC Poverty Alleviation Working Group was held on April 10th, 2014 with the theme of “Monitoring Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Programmes in the COMCEC Region.” The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 19 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Poverty Alleviation Working Group namely: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Gambia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Suriname, Tunisia, Turkey and Uganda. The Centre was represented thereat by Mr. Mazhar Hussain, Senior Researcher. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, Islamic Development Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Deniz Feneri Association and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality have also attended the Meeting.

The Signing Ceremony, which has been organized by the COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO), for the successful projects under the COMCEC Project Cycle Management (PCM) was held in Ankara on April 2nd, 2014. A total of 15 successful projects under the COMCEC PCM, the main implementation instrument of the new COMCEC Strategy, have been announced on March 9th, 2014. These projects were submitted by 10 OIC member countries namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine, and Uganda and two OIC institutions including SESRIC. Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, signed the operational and financial agreements of two successful projects of SESRIC entitled to receive grants within the framework of COMCEC Project Cycle Management (PCM).

The Third Meeting of the COMCEC Transport Working Group was held on March 13th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme “Developing Multimodal Freight Transport (MFT) Among OIC Member Countries”. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 15 OIC Member States including Afghanistan, Djibouti, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Uganda. The Centre was represented thereat by Dr. Cem Tintin, Researcher. Representatives from the COMCEC Coordination Office, IDB (Islamic Development Bank), UIRR (International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport), UTIKAD (Association of International Forwarding and Logistics Service Providers) and KombiConsult also attended the Meeting.

The Third Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on March 4th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme "Enabling Tourism Investment Climate in the COMCEC Region". The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 14 OIC Member States including Oman, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Tunisia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Libya, Malaysia, and Mozambique. The Centre was represented thereat by Dr. Cem Tintin, Researcher. Representatives from the COMCEC Coordination Office, ICDT, IFC (World Bank Group), TUROB, SW Associates also attended the Meeting.

The Third Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on February 27th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme "Facilitating Intra-OIC Trade: Improving the Efficiency of Customs Procedures". The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 21 OIC Member States including Bangladesh, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen. The Centre was represented thereat by Dr. Kenan Bağcı, Senior Researcher. Representatives of the COMCEC Coordination Office, ITFC/IDB, ICDT, SMIIC, UNCTAD, World Customs Organization (WCO) and Gümrük ve Ticaret İşletmeleri (GTI) of Turkey also attended the Meeting.